The Evil Empress's Little Fox

Chapter Sixteen

Someone's holding my hand. It almost felt like a knight's by how rouge it felt but the hand was too slim to be a man's. So it must be a woman. But why would she want to hold my hand? Why is she holding my hand in the first place?

Moving my free hand a little, I gritted my teeth, still acting like I was still asleep. My dagger isn't there. Someone must have changed my clothes since the dagger was attached to the inside of the shirt's sleeve. Damn it!

I hate it when I don't have a weapon on me. This is so annoying.

Slowly and carefully, opening my eyes, I looked around. Noticing I was in an infirmary covered in a blanket that was too thin to keep me warm from how cold the room was.

Shivering, I slowly sat up. Feeling fine. There was no headache, my ears weren't muffled, which I absolutely despise, and I wasn't tired or have a fever. I let out a small sigh. Well, that's a relief at least.

Turning my head to look at my left, I frozen upon seeing Empress Circe asleep. Her head half laying on her arm and on the bed with the other holding my hand. I felt my cheeks flush. So she's the one holding my hand.

Slowly trying to move my hand out of Empress Circe's hold, she suddenly tightened her grip on me. I paused, waiting for her to relax her hand before trying again. This time succeeding. After three attempts.

Grinning to myself, I quietly tossed the thin blanket off of me and carefully got out of bed. Keeping an eye on Empress Circe to see if she was about to wake up.

Looking around the room once more, I saw a door right behind the Empress. Glancing over to the dark hair woman, I started to go over to the door.

Slowly tiptoeing over to leave, I was nearly there before I frozen where someone spoke up from behind. A familiar voice. "And where do you think you're going?" Damn it.

My shoulders dropped as I turned around, facing Empress Circe who was now sitting up in her chair and looking over at me. That's when I noticed that she had light bags under her eyes and tear stains on her cheeks. Have she been crying? Why?

"I'll ask you again, where do you think you're going, Rowan?" I snapped out of it and gulped. Rarely has she said my name before. I'm in for it now.

I cleared my throat, just realizing how dry it was. "I-I was..." I trained off, thinking of a lie to come up with but couldn't come up with one with Empress Circe staring at me. Should just tell her the truth then. "I was trying to-" I had to pause again because I started to have a coughing fit.

Putting my mouth against my elbow, I heard the sound of a chair scrapping against the stone floor and footsteps coming over to me. The coughing didn't let up by the time the footsteps stopped and a hand slowly patted my back.

After a moment, the coughing settled down and I was able to remove my face from my arm. Tears in my eyes, I lifted a hand and wiped them away.

Seeing a glass of water in the corner of my eye, I turned to Empress Circe and took it from her. Whispering a soft thank you before drinking it until the glass was empty.

Pulling the cup away from my lips, I let out a small sigh. My throat feels much better. Looking up at Empress Circe, she was staring down at me with worry in her eyes. But I didn't notice.

I only noticed that she was standing right next to me, inches away. She was practically standing above me and she slightly towered over me. Making me blush. I looked away from her. She's so tall. "Thank you, Empress Circe. I really needed that."

Empress Circe took the glass from me and it disappeared. My eyes widened at that. What did she do? "It was no problem, what type of wife would I be if I didn't take care of my wife?" She tilted her head, a soft smile on her lips. "How are you feeling, little fox? You've been asleep for two days." Two days?

That will explain why my throat was so dry and why I feel so much better than before. "I feel fine." Empress Circe looked relieved when she heard that.

Her shoulder relaxed and she let out a sigh of relief. I flinched at that, was she that worried about me? "That's good to hear, Princess." Okay, where's the strong, grinned Empress that likes to tease me because this is not her!

This is more terrifying then the Empress being mean!